Be Afraid..There's Chatter/Be Afraid...There's No Chatter

Bi- Sure it's a mess. But not for the reasons that you describe. The thing about terrorists, is that they are unpredictable. Considering what they have done in the past, you don't know what the hell that they are going to do next. The government is in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" position. If they say nothing, and we are hit, if they say something, and we are not hit, they will be criticized.

My attitude is "que sera, sera". I will keep my eyes and ears open, but there is not much more that I can do personally.

I can recall in the 60's as a teenager reading a lot of science fiction in which the plot was built around the idea the the US was, or was turning into, a dictatorship or a fascist state etc. At the time I thought these stories little more than a good read and took none of it seriously. I am struck now by how prescient some of it was.

Acquiunk- Problem is, the world is a lot smaller today than it was in the sixties, due in part to travel, communications, and the internet.

Bi- I just wrote a thread on the two versions of "The Manchurian Candidate". Paranoia is not new to this country. If you want to see a parallel to what is happening today, watch the 1962 "Candidate". Anybody remember this one:

http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Stage/2950/Spy/ILedThreeLives.htm

No, paranoia is not new to this country. But for the first time we have a group in power that feeds it, and feeds off it, for their own ends.

U.S. rapped for
blowing spy's cover
BY CORKY SIEMASZKO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

A captured Al Qaeda computer whiz was E-mailing his comrades as part of a sting operation to nab other top terrorists when U.S. officials blew his cover, sources said yesterday.Within hours of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan's name being publicized Monday, British police launched lightning raids that netted a dozen suspected Al Qaeda terrorists, including one who was nabbed after a high-speed car chase.

Among those taken into custody was Abu Eisa Al Hindi, whose scouting of the New York Stock Exchange, the Citigroup Center and other financial sites for possible attacks prompted the latest orange alert terror warnings.

Now British and Pakistani intelligence officials are furious with the Americans for unmasking their super spy - apparently to justify the orange alert - and for naming the other captured terrorist suspects.

Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayyat expressed dismay the trap they had hoped would lead to the capture of other top Al Qaeda leaders, possibly even Osama Bin Laden, was sprung too soon.

"The network is still not finished," Hayyat said. It "remains a potent threat to Pakistan, and to civilized humanity."

"It makes our job harder," a British security source said. British officials denied press reports yesterday that several suspects were able to escape the net.

More
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/219869p-188947c.html

There's a terror alert in Italy now due to an AQ threat, I wish Italy would stop scaring their population just to get Bush elected. :wink:

What if you remove 'Bush' with 'Berlusconi'?

You had better explain it Rick. Most Americans are lost on the subtilties of politics in the next state, never mind a foreign country.

Keep in mind you're an American yourself Acquiunk :wink: Anyway, Berlusconi is a man who would be perfect as a director of a large media enterprise (oh wait, he is), or as a director of a large soccer club (oh wait, he is), but not as a political leader (sadly enough, he is). He is a man who likes to 'bring some fun to politics', as he would probably say it, and indeed: he is a real joke. Isn't it perfectly normal that you insult a German member in the EU parliament of being the perfect person for a Nazi commander in a movie about a concentrationcamp? (...) Well, it's not. But our dear Silvio (that's Berlusconi's first name) believes it IS normal. He is our European Bush.

I would dearly like Berlusconi out and so, I gather, would AQ. This is not cause and effect.